


The Life This Human Saved

by MezzoElegy



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Final Haikyuu Quest, No Romance, Non-Graphic Violence, Religion, Writing Exercise, and then just angst, controversial opinion on a thing that has started wars, fluff early on, it gets very sad very fast, noya has it bad, vaguely related chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-07-13 11:10:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16016684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MezzoElegy/pseuds/MezzoElegy
Summary: Religious Asahi saves Demon Noya, and awkwardness and flirting are the results.Followed by a series of related shorts that only make sense if you fill in the story around them with your own depressing imagination.Final Haikyuu Quest AU!





	1. Chapter 1

     When Noya regained consciousness, the burning began. He screamed, caught off guard, and clawed at his back—what was going on? There was something on his wing—

     The pain subsided, and he leaned his head against the headboard of the bed he’d woken up in. His hands shook; it felt like he had been cut in half and sewn back together with some kind of torture spell. He finally noticed the much-too-large shirt covering his form and blinked, too exhausted to do much else. It was a button-up—the kind of which he’d seen many, but he’d never worn one. In fact, he’d never worn anything but the uniform Lady Kiyoko had given him when he was a kid.

     A cursory glance over his shoulder revealed a bandage of some kind on his wing. That would explain the burning. Whatever it was bandaged for would be healing about now—he could see darkness outside through the bars on the window, though the light was on inside.

     Adrenaline shot through him. Bars?

     He heard the knob of the door across the room click, and he drew himself up into a standing position, ready to fight whatever came in. He inched back towards the wardrobe as the door opened—a human poked their head inside, leaning in just enough to look around.

     Noya felt his nerves spike; he clambered up the side of the wardrobe before they could see him, perching on top so that he would have the advantage if they decided to approach.

     Sure enough, the human stepped fully inside once they saw Noya atop the furniture, eyebrows lifting in what he thought might have been concern. Noya looked them up and down, not sure what to think. They had long hair, pulled back and away from their face, and a little scrabbly bit of hair at the end of their chin. As for the outfit, hadn’t he seen one of those before…?

     They removed their hand from the cross hanging around their neck to clasp their hands together at the waist, and he paled, hissing.

     They were a member of the church.

     “How are you feeling?”

     Noya didn’t answer. Their voice sounded nothing like he had expected—it didn’t suit them. It was low, pleasingly so, but quiet. Soft, almost. Maybe they were afraid. As they should be. Demons like himself were frightening on a normal basis, let alone to a human of faith—and he was injured and cornered. The human should rightly be afraid.

     After a moment, they pressed, “Do—Do you need anything? Can I… Water? I don’t know what demons eat, so…”

     Despite himself, Noya nearly snickered at how unsure they seemed. The look on their face struck a chord with him. That was right; he had seen this human for just a moment before passing out earlier, after a fight with those so-called _heroes_. Some heroes they were. They had just picked a fight with him about Lady Kiyoko and left him for dead. If this human hadn’t found him…

     He shook his head. No time to be grateful. Just glare and hope they’ll leave—he needed to plan his escape. The members of the church would likely kill him.

     So why had this one saved him?

     “I… You were in a pretty bad way. Can I ask what happened?”

     Noya blinked, eying the human carefully. Slowly, he unraveled himself, settling on the balls of his feet so that he could still run if he needed to. He chose the language that the human had spoken in, hoping it would understand—he wasn’t really feeling up to a fight. “… Are you holding me hostage, human?”

     “M-Me?” They stammered, taking half a step back. “No. No! I mean… I found you on my way to the garden, nearly unconscious. You looked pretty bad. You… You, uh, got blood on the zucchini. Not that that matters as long as you’re okay! Um… You could leave, if you wanted. I hadn’t really considered that being in a church would make you uncomfortable, I’m sorry. But I couldn’t just leave you there to die.”

     The ramble sent Noya into amused chuckles. “But I’m a demon.”

     “I’m a human. So what?”

     “I can’t decide if you’re stupid or too nice for your own good,” Noya said, feeling better now that his usual grin had taken its place across his lips. “I like you. I’m Noya—who’re you?”

     They scratched the back of their head. “Um, you can call me Asahi.”

     “Asahi,” he repeated, deciding he liked the way it tasted on his tongue. Muted. Electric. He looked Asahi up and down appreciatively, lidding his eyes. A fuzzy feeling ran through his chest—he _really_ liked them. “What sort of human are you?”

     They blinked. “I—I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand the question.”

     “You know. What sort of a human are you? There’s a gender spectrum; a binary, I believe. Where do you fall on it?”

     “Oh. It’s not… it’s not a binary, exactly, but… I’m male? Why?” Asahi asked, eyebrows furrowed.

     “I like you,” Noya said easily, grin borderline salacious. He gripped the edge of the wardrobe and dropped down to the floor. Asahi stiffened. “I like the way your name tastes. I want to know more about you. What sort of religious man saves the life of a demon?”

     Asahi was silent for a long moment, but eventually, he managed a weak, “My name… tastes?”

     Noya slinked closer, watching the man carefully for any response before he leaned bodily into him, nudging at his chest with his head. Asahi’s back hit the door. He could feel his heartbeat; it was fast. Almost worryingly so.

     “Your name,” Noya murmured, resting his ear where he could hear the loudest beating of his heart. “Asahi.”

     Beat.

     “Tastes like…”

     Beat.

     “A thunderstorm spent indoors, reading.”

     Asahi’s heart sped up—he didn’t move. Noya wondered if it was shock or fear keeping him there.

     “What do you mean?” He asked.

     Noya shook his head, hiding a smile. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Humans don’t sense things like we do. Just trust me.”

     “I… Okay. I should… Um, if you’re okay, then I should go.”

     “You can’t stay?” Noya asked, surprising even himself. Whatever this infatuation was, it had hit him fast and hard. He wasn’t an incubus himself, but he did live with them—maybe they had influenced him without him even knowing it.

     Asahi shook his head, and Noya took a step away, balling his hands in the hem of the shirt he was wearing. It smelled like Asahi, he realized—it must have been his.

     “Okay. I’ll wait for you here, then.”

     “You… you’re not leaving? You’re okay to travel, I made sure…” Asahi trailed off.

     Noya considered it a moment—Ryuu and Lady Kiyoko would be needing him soon. Even so, he found himself shaking his head, walking backwards until he found the bed and could sit down.

     “Not yet.”

     Asahi opened his mouth, then closed it. He repeated the action a few more times, even turning towards the door once or twice; in the end, he nodded mutely, the tips of his ears red. He opened the door and left. Noya crossed his legs, stretching his good wing. The other would be healed soon—he may as well wait here in the meantime. Hopefully Asahi would be back soon.

     He palmed the bed. Comfy. It wouldn’t be a bad place to take a nap and wait.

     He curled up at the foot of the bed and drifted off, eyes slipping shut faster than they normally did due to his exhaustion. He barely had time to wonder why he had attached himself to this human so quickly before he fell into a hazy sleep, buried under the single sheet and feeling warmer than he ever had.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, part two! I wrote this a while ago, and it's just now getting posted... 
> 
> Here's the thing. It's very religion heavy, and a little self-indulgent in that it was the first way I ever expressed how I actually felt about church and the religion-versus-faith debate. I'm considered religious, myself, so please don't disparage my faith if you have strong negative feelings. That's not cool.
> 
> Religious discourse, though, I'm all over that shit.

Asahi had made mistakes before.

Of course he had; he had been a little kid when he’d joined the church, not even old enough to decide if he really believed in God. Mistakes defined the early part of his life there. One use of the Lord’s name in vain too many, one missed curfew, an inability to minister until he overcame his own anxiety. A reluctance to minister when he wasn’t as good as the man that had convinced him to join.

He’d been before the Council before, he’d stared into the eyes of that same man and confessed his sins until his throat was dry, cried until he was out of tears, and been born again—he had opened his eyes and seen a plan. A plan for him, for his life.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

“Child, what you’ve done is inexcusable,” the minister said, mouth set in a deep frown. A few other Council members murmured in agreement. “You’ve brought a creature of the Devil into the sanctity of our church! Into your home, Asahi! What possibly could have motivated you?”

Asahi balled his hands into fists at his sides. “He was hurt!”

The man sighed, eyes unfathomable. “I have lauded your great gift of compassion before, but to have it go to these extremes… Surely your place is here. To show grace to one such as that creature…”

His stomach untwisted slightly. “You’re… not mad?”

“Of course not. I’m disappointed in your poor choice, but not mad. To err is human; to forgive, divine. Never forget that. We strive for perfection, and when we fail, we attempt to atone. This is all we can do.”

An uneasy feeling swirled in his chest as the heavy doors opened behind him. Two of the other men that had grown up with him threw something to the floor mere feet away, a trembling blob of black and white. He had never liked them, he _knew_ he had never liked them, and yet, as bright red spots bloomed across the form in front of him, Asahi felt the closest thing to pure hate that he’d ever experienced.

Hands appeared, bracing against the floor as a face came into view.

“Ah—s… hi,” Noya croaked, hair plastered to his head and dripping liquid all over the tile. He winced and tried to lift himself up, but slipped in the water and fell back down. He didn’t get back up.

Asahi whirled around to the minister, eyes wide. “What did you do?”

“I requested the creature be tested,” the man replied, glaring at the two young men by the door. Asahi had never seen him look more severe. “Not mutilated. There is no reason it should be made to suffer.”

“It’s unholy,” someone else said. “It deserves to suffer.”

“No.” The minister’s voice rang out, silencing the rest of the room. He turned his gaze to Asahi, eyes softening. “Child, do you believe in God?”

Asahi replied without hesitation, unable to take his eyes off the form on the floor. His voice was little more than a whisper. “Yes.”

“And do you wish to serve Him?”

“Yes.”

“Then end its suffering, Asahi. Send the unholy creature to be judged.”

Asahi’s blood ran cold. All he’d ever wanted to do was minister to the people.

“I… You… want me to kill him?” His eyes flicked to Noya’s still form on the floor. Was he really that bad? Sure, whatever Noya actually was, people called him a demon, but… He was a good friend. He had been nothing but nice. Kind, helpful, loyal. Flirty and a little loud.

‘Not of God,’ his mind provided. ‘Unholy. A demon.’

“Its life was not provided by God. It is up to us to take it back.”

“That…” Asahi trailed off, cheeks wet. He knelt next to Noya and put a hand on his cheek, index finger slipping under his chin to feel for a pulse. He was alive—he had a heartbeat. Brown eyes flashed golden as they opened.

Noya stared up at him blearily. “… ‘sahi…”

His world turned upside down.

“That isn’t for you to decide,” Asahi said without thinking. He looked over his shoulder at the man that had inspired him to join the church, tears falling fast from his eyes. “We are not judges. My faith tells me differently than yours, minister. I believe that his life is worth the same as yours or mine. He’s my friend. I won’t take his life.”

A long sigh was all Asahi heard in the stunned silence of the council room. After a moment, the man said, “I was afraid you’d say that. You know what has to happen now, don’t you, Asahi?”

He shifted Noya into a seated position and pulled him closer, wrapping a protective arm around him. “I… I understand. Will you let me take him?”

“It must leave, one way or another,” the minister replied, voice weary. He looked all of his years in that moment, plus some. “If you choose to take it with you, I won’t stop you. I won’t condone violence against a man of God, even one who has fallen.”

“My faith remains intact,” Asahi shook his head, voice barely there. “Fallen from the church does not mean fallen in the eyes of God.”

He pulled Noya to a standing position and leaned over to pick him up—he took a step back, shaking his head, before moving behind Asahi and leaning heavily against his back. Asahi could feel his hands trembling where they gripped the back of his shirt.

The minister nodded solemnly. “If that is the path you believe God has chosen for you, so be it. Be on your way, Azumane Asahi. I pray you will not live to regret your decision.”

Asahi wiped the tears from his eyes and turned, wrapping an arm around Noya to guide him out of the room. Nobody moved to stop them. Their footsteps echoed down empty hallways until the door slammed shut behind them.

Noya swayed on his feet.

“Oh, Noya… Noya, I’m so…”

Noya looked up at him, eyes a dull brown, and he leaned forward, pressing his forehead into Asahi’s arm. He murmured something unintelligibly before his knees buckled underneath him.

Asahi bent to catch him before he hit the ground. He felt for a pulse again and sighed when he found it, scooping him up in his arms to carry him carefully down the path. He looked down the hill and into the town, heart racing. What was he going to do?

He took a breath. Noya needed him.

Clinic.

Everything else could wait.


	3. Chapter 3

“I don’t know about this, Noya…”

Noya kicked his legs out, licking the popsicle he’d bought at the convenience store before they’d come. He rolled his eyes. “Come on! I chose it, it’ll look great. Just get out here, already.”

“Have you seen what you wear on a regular basis?” Asahi muttered, but pulled the door to the changing room open, anyway. He scratched the back of his head. “… So?”

Noya felt a pang in his chest, and his ears warmed. “You look… really good.”

He’d chosen jeans and a white t-shirt—tight-fitting, of course, so that Noya could appreciate the man’s body. Asahi crossed his arms over his chest, face red.

“Thank you,” he flushed, looking down at the ground. “Um… This is good, really?”

“Really good,” he repeated, throat dry.

Asahi looked around uneasily. He widened his eyes, moving to the wall and grabbing something before Noya could see what it was, slipping it on over the t-shirt and turning back around, looking infinitely more confident. It was an orange and black long-sleeved flannel.

“What do you think?”

Noya hummed. “Good, but… Let me do some things, wait a second. Can I touch?”

“M-Me?” Asahi straightened, hands clenching at his sides. “Um, yes? I guess…”

“Cool,” he said easily. He looked him up and down, considering—what would improve the whole, ‘I’m insecure and like to cover up my absolutely incredible body’ thing he had going on? He clicked his fingers and stepped forward, rolling up both sleeves of the flannel to his elbows. “Better… One more thing.”

He poked the back of Asahi’s knee to get him to bend down a little before reaching up to undo the little bun that kept all of his hair pulled back, letting it fall to his shoulders in waves. Asahi’s eyes widened; Noya took a step back and nodded.

“… Yeah, that’s—that’s good. Perfect.”

Asahi ran a hand through his hair, blinking. “If you say so, Noya…”

“I do. Now come on, take it all off. Right here, if you want. We’ll buy it once we’re done,” Noya smirked, and Asahi rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be right back, then,” he murmured, stepping back into the changing room with an exasperated smile.

Noya unashamedly stared as he turned around, but found himself unable to look away from the door once it was shut. He felt like his face was on fire.

Maybe he needed some air.


	4. Chapter 4

Asahi blinked his eyes open, the sound of the nearby ocean pulling him gently from his sleep. He sat up and looked out the window—had he left it open? It was dark. There were some clouds in the sky, blocking most of the stars. Even so, he got out of the motel bed and ran a hand through his hair, walking to the window.

He looked around outside, craning his neck to look up and down the road. At the end nearest the beach, he saw a familiar figure with spiked hair leaning against the fence overlooking the ocean.

He frowned, crawling through the window and making his way down the path, sticking his hands in his pockets to protect against the chill. He slowed as he approached, tilting his head.

“Noya?”

He turned around slowly, eyes widening. “Oh, sorry… you were sleeping when I left. Were you looking for me?”

“Did you crawl out through the window?” Asahi asked, an amused little smile pulling at his lips at the way Noya looked away. His cheeks could have reddened, but it was too hard to tell in the lack of light. “… Did something happen?”

“No, not really,” Noya said. He turned back around, looking out at nothing in particular. “I was just having a hard time sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you, so I came out here. I’m sorry.”

Asahi shook his head. “You didn’t wake me, Noya. It’s okay. Do you… want to talk about it? You seem kind of tense.”

“I’m just thinkin’.”

“Dangerous pastime.”

“Is that _attitude_ I’m detecting, Azumane Asahi?” Noya smirked, looking at him over his shoulder. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Shrugging, he said, “I’ve been hanging around with a bad influence, you know. He’s a real demon.”

“Is that so,” Noya said dryly. He grinned and pushed himself off the fence, stepping over to Asahi and leaning into him. He pressed his ear to his chest, just listening and watching the waves. He was calmer than he was during the daytime. Calmer than he’d been in a long time.

He sighed.

One of Asahi’s hands rested between his shoulder blades. “Let me take you back to bed?”

His face caught on fire as soon as the words escaped his lips. Noya’s smile was lecherous as he leaned in even closer, lacing his fingers together around Asahi’s waist. He pushed himself up on his toes, trying to get as close to his mouth as possible.

“You want to bring me to bed with you?” He purred.

“That—that’s not what I meant,” Asahi said weakly, looking pale.

Noya buried his nose in Asahi’s chest to hide his smile. “Yeah, I know. Take me back? The cold isn’t doing good things to my scars…”

“Is that why you’re out here?” Asahi sighed, exasperated, and shifted his hand lower on his back. “Come on. I can ask if there’s a clinic anywhere nearby tomorrow… they’ll have some painkillers or something. Can you wait that long?”

“If you keep your arm around me like that, I can do anything,” he said, making the most dramatic doe eyes that Asahi had ever seen.

He laughed and pulled Noya along, knocking his hip into him. “I thought you told me you weren’t an incubus?”

“I’m not even technically a demon,” Noya shrugged, eyes on the ground. “Why? Am I finally seducing you, mister ‘promise of celibacy’?”

“No, I’m afraid you’ll have to try harder than that.”

“Damn.”


	5. Chapter 5

They watched the wall of the city crumble in the distance from where they sat under the tree outside the lighthouse, gray skies withholding their judgement.

Noya kicked his legs out, hand clenching tighter around the stick he’d been holding.

“It’s here,” Asahi murmured. Noya looked up at him, wondering how he was staying so calm. His face was the image of tranquility—it reflected nothing but peace and acceptance.

Noya felt his ears burn. “Asahi…”

“We should get some rest,” he interrupted, moving to stand. “… Thank you for this, Noya. The picnic was very nice.”

“I… Yeah, sure,” he responded lamely. How, in the face of death, was he so calm? “… I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Asahi smiled, warming Noya from the inside out.

“Yes, tomorrow. Good night, Noya.”

He left before Noya could say anything.

“… Goodnight…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, it gets confusing here, because it's not really supposed to make much sense? I wrote a bunch of little things for that writing challenge, and, uh, it just got very serious one day for no reason at all. So. Sorry. The next chapter gives it a little more context, but not just a whole lot of universe-building.


	6. Chapter 6

Rain fell from the sky in sheets just outside—the low sound of thunder could be heard all throughout the building. Noya wanted to look out the window, to see it happen. Unfortunately, he had other business.

He narrowed his eyes as it sauntered through the door, and looked down at the knife in his hands. No blood. Not yet. It was covered in the stuff, though; he knew it had just come from the last bastion. It had just slaughtered them all. Its eyes glowed—not gold, like his, but a murderous red.

“So, you’re here,” he said in place of a greeting. “How many times is this, now? … Maybe seventeen?”

It gave him its best intimidating glare, but Noya shrugged it off, flipping the knife over and poking the blade with his finger.

“Why don’t you end this already? You can’t win; I’m too good,” he smirked. A memory came flooding back, and he shook it away, blinking back whatever emotion had been associated with it.

“Why don’t you let me finish this?” It asked. The look in its eyes was manic—bloodlust. He knew that look. “You’ve watched your whole world burn. You got to watch it crumble. There’s nothing left for you. Let me finish it. It’ll be quick, painless. Like it never happened at all. Like you never even existed.”

Noya pretended to consider it. “You know, I think I’m gonna pass… yeah, that sounds like it would suck. You’ve asked me that before, you know. Do you remember? Or have you already forgotten?”

“I forget nothing,” it said, enigmatic.

“How about this?” Noya pointed the knife at it casually. “Instead of that whole, ‘I let you finish the destruction of my entire world’ thing, how about we try a ‘you give up and let me kill you permanently’ thing? I think that’d be better for everyone.”

“What is ‘everyone’? You’re the only one left,” it said, smiling like the weight of what it had done wasn’t enough to suffocate him just by its acknowledgement. “Everyone else is gone, Noya. Let me bring you to them, little demon. Don’t you miss them?”

His knuckles turned white around the hilt of his weapon. “… Of course I do. That doesn’t mean I’m just going to roll over and die, though. After all, like you said… I’m the only one left. Without me, they can never rest in peace. I am the one that will destroy their demons. The one that will destroy _you_. We’ve fought in sixteen different places before now, but this time… this time, it ends. It ends here.”

Its smile widened. “You never disappoint me, Noya.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The last part of the writing challenge I did last year, and the last bit of context. The last glimpse of my massively depressing mind. Were I directing this movie, Final Haikyuu Quest would be much more serious and grim. It would probably go something like this, actually, so it's a good thing it's up to Ennoshita, not me.

“Aren’t you tired?”

Noya dragged himself to his feet, chest heaving for air. He shook the water out of his eyes, pointing his knife shakily. Rain dripped down the point, covered in blood that didn’t all belong to his opponent.

“You killed them!” He cried, throat raw. “You killed all of them! Those stupid Heroes, Lady Kiyoko, King Oikawa… Ryuu.”

“Yes, I did,” it said, looking far too bored in the middle of a fight to the death that it had nearly lost sixteen times over. “You know which one was my favorite, though? The one I enjoyed killing the most. It was that young priest that you traveled with for so long, Noya. The way the light left his eyes… the way he cried, how he screamed. For you, little demon. He screamed your name. What was his?”

Noya charged, a wordless cry tearing violently from his throat. It dodged, and he fell into the mud.

This was it.

It stepped closer, putting a foot on his back and grinding the heel painfully into his spine.

He was going to die.

“What was his name, Nishinoya Yuu?”

“Asahi…” He sobbed, long since out of tears.

It grinned, and the knife came down.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired entirely by that one picture of Noya and priest Asahi I keep seeing around... credit goes to @dcon_34, for this beauty! https://twitter.com/dcon_34/status/1008781464761069568 
> 
> I am weak. But it's my OTP and a canon AU, come on!


End file.
